Friday, May 29, 2009

Also, Jay Leno's final Tonight Show gig airs tonight. I'd be much more excited about this if he was, you know, actually leaving TV!!! But at least Conan will be on an hour earlier (not that I ever stay up that late, but if I did...)

Adriana Lima is Pregnant - Don't worry, fellas. I'm sure she'll have her impossibly hot body back in shape mere days after delivering.Kim Kardashian is still insisting I like her! - Kim co-founded this website ladies can join and receive a pair of super hot shoes for only $39. Genius! If I had 40 bucks to spare each month (aka if I stopped spending so much damn money on cable television) I'd totally sign up and let Kim make me fabulous.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

I’ve been “into” music for as long as I can remember. I officially became a snob about it around age 11. My audiophility was never quite at Lane Kim levels, but it was pretty dern close.

So it’s with a strange mix of anxiety and curiosity that I’ve found myself just not that into discovering new music lately. I’ve been buying albums off iTunes, but it’s stuff like Otis Redding and The Stone Roses; stuff I already knew I liked, I just didn’t own. When I scan Stereogum or Pitchfork to see what bands they’re raving about, I get caught up in malaise rather than excitement.

I have three theories for this:

1) A lot of the “hot” bands right now have a strong electronica/DJ influence, and with a few exceptions (Girl Talk, LCD Soundsystem, Justice) I just can’t get into that kind of music. Never could. It's probably related to my turning down all that ecstasy in high school. F*ckin' D.A.R.E.

2) Having listened to SO MUCH music over the past 27 years, it’s very difficult for a band to stand out and grab me. And I’m tired being the one that puts in all the effort.

3) I'm getting old

I'm going to go with option 2. I mean, it can't be that last one there, right? Ha ha … ha. RIGHT?!?! I’m just saturated and really hard to please. That’s it. It’s got to be.

Anyway ... My point (and I do have one) is that if any of you have heard some awesome new band, or rediscovered some old, unheard of band that might give me a kick start, let me know. Even if you've just got a great new source for music (blog, online radio, etc), pass it along. I need to know if this whole ennui thing is just a slump or if I have actually – God forbid – grown up.

I am pretty keen on hearing this new side project by people from Vampire Weekend and Ra Ra Riot after all, so maybe there's hope for the old girl yet.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Zoolander 2 - Ben Stiller talks about reviving Derek Zoolander. I'd be down to see how things are going at the Derek Zoolander Center For Kids Who Can't Read Good And Wanna Learn To Do Other Stuff Good Too, wouldn't you?

Bridget Jones: The Musical - Less excited about this. I mean, I love Bridge, but I think, kinda like the SATC ladies, her time has passed.

Some Thoughts on Glee - So, it was a bit over-hyped and not as hilarious as expected ("too earnest" our dear friend Falwless pointed out), but I still rather enjoyed it...mainly because that was my high school experience...being dorky and singing my ever loving heart out, covered in green sequins. Finally, some one captures MY high school experience. Take that, Lyla Garrity!

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

So, I had been really looking forward to the Sherlock Holmes movie coming out this Christmas, both because I have a weak spot for Victorian era period clothing, and because Robert Downey, Jr. is ... Robert Downey, Jr. But I just saw the trailer for it and, um, ahhh, less excited now. Is all I'm saying. See for yourself, maybe I'm wrong. (But probably not, obvs).

Movie: Star Trek - You know I'm a nerd, I know I'm a nerd, so it's not surprise that I loved the J.J. Abrams reimaging of the sci-fi classic. I was never really into Star Trek, but this movie made me a fan. Chris Pine is wonderful as Kirk and Zachary Quinto was born to play a young Spock. Go see it, whether your a fan of the series or not. Definitely not our father's Star Trek.

Music: Ben Folds Presents University A Cappella - Hearing Ben Folds' greatest hits a cappella and pure and with the occasional beatbox accompaniment is just amazing. Makes me wish I was still in college...and that's the first time I've ever said that...well, other than when I started watching Greek and decided I wished I would have done the sorority thing, but that is mainly so I could have dated someone like Cappy. BUT! I digress...

TV: Glee - I was in some choir or another from 5th grade until a few years ago so you can bet your ass I'm all over this new show about a high school glee club. The pilot airs tonight after Adam and Kris square off on AI and the series begins for reals in the fall. Please watch so this shizz doesn't get canceled. You have no idea what it would mean to me.

DVD: Heavy Metal in Baghdad - This doc captures Iraq's only heavy metal band before and after the start of the war. It's a truly fascinating look at the youth culture in that country and the insane situations in which they live. Queue it up or watch it here online for free.

www: Heartless Doll - A blog that "dig[s] pop culture and ladythings." With posts like "10 Tweets My Vagina Would Twitter" and "Women Who Make Us Ask WTF?" they can be a tad femi-nazi...and I totally love it. Check it out.

As always, your recommendations for all things awesome are coveted below.

Monday, May 18, 2009

One of the strangest things about living in Southern California – aside from football games starting at 10 o’clock in the damn morning – is that you never really know what month it is. May, February, November, they’re all kind of the same, albeit with varying amounts of daylight.

While this is mostly awesome, it can also make things very confusing and surreal. For example, I can never remember when things happened, because odds are the sun was shining and I was wearing jeans and a t-shirt at the time, which could make it six months ago, or last week. Who the hell knows?

What got me thinking about this is, I was just reading something dated April 23 and was thinking to myself, “That’s not so long ago.” Then I looked at my desk calendar and realized its May 18! What?!?

This is important for a few reasons, mainly that (a) June is rapidly approaching, when I’ll be shelling out all kinds of dollars (lovingly) for my brother’s wedding and (b) I’m about a month, going on two months, behind on a birthday present for a friend of mine. And of course my plan to lose 15 lbs before summer is now officially shot to hell, but that was to be expected.

And naturally these realizations are coming on a Monday morning when I’m really tired and feel like a bloated corpse after too much tortilla chips and beer over the weekend.

So I’m thinking maybe I should start some kind of system so I know where I’m at, like wearing various shades of red during the “winter” months, and switching to blue for the summer. Or something. I don’t know, I haven’t thought it all the way through yet. (Again: Bloated. Corpse). But maybe you guys can give me some ideas.

Which is all a long, round-about way of saying: HA ha! I live somewhere where its nice and sunny all the time. But seriously, HELP!

Friday, May 15, 2009

I should preface this by saying I'm not a huge meat eater. I'd say 75% of my meals contain no meat whatsoever. However, I don't get the obsession with bacon.

Now, I understand bacon tastes good. I've enjoyed it on many occasions with my eggs in the morning or on a hamburger or a nice BLT, but more often than not, I ask to have the bacon removed from my burger because it's usually limp and tasteless and, well, unnecessary. Recently, a "friend" of mine included Bacon as one of the five (only 5!) things he'd spend tons of cash on were he to win the lotto while filling out that stupid Facebook quiz on the subject. This made me say, "What the hell?!" and possibly "That's a deal breaker, ladies!" Then you add Baconnaise and the Bacon Explosion and I, personally, think things are a bit out of hand.

Is anyone with me on this? Anyone? Or am I just crazy for preferring sausage in the breakfast meats contest of life?

Thursday, May 14, 2009

First off, thanks so much for your get well wishes and incessant clapping. While still not 100%, I am feeling a zillion times better today.

More importantly, though, some serious shizz went down on the telly last night! While I was having my mind blown by the Lost finale, American Idol finally put the "Go" in Gokey when they sent home the talented yet annoyingly smug Danny Gokey. Thank God! While I appreciate Adam Lambert, Kris Allen is the guy I'd actually listen to on the radio...maybe...if I listened any Idol contestants save my girl K. Clarkson. An Adam/Kris finale should be pretty sweet. I'm so glad I won't have to endure another week of Gokey's craptastic yelling/90's balladeering. (Also, this is officially my last season of Idol. I mean, my grandma is even too cool to watch it anymore. Time to shut it down).

Also, Teyona won ANTM. I saw this decision coming 10 Tyra weaves ago, so I was a bit disappointed. The girl I want (Alison) never seems to win this show. I must not have an eye for top model talent. And no Paulina next season?! Lame.

I just wanted to post a picture of Terry O'Quinn

And finally, Lost. What to say about Lost other than What. The. Hell?!? Not many questions were answered, yet a dozen more were added to the list. Can I still love John Locke if he's evil? Can I admire Jacob knowing he was one of Dexter's victims? Will I ever stop missing Charlie? A bunch of other questions which are actually serious and hurt my mind grapes? I can't believe we all have to wait nearly a year to find out.

Friday, May 8, 2009

I don’t know about you guys, but I hate doing work when I’m at work. That’s why we here at Gingers is the Watchword HQ like to offer up "approved time wasters" like those listed to your left, to offer you something that kills the time you were supposed to fill with productivity.

Here’s a new one brought to my attention by friend of the blog “Noochie,” who will always have my undying respect for that beer pyramid she built in my sophomore year dorm room during a Buffy watching marathon. It’s from our robot masters over at Sony, and its called Crackle.

It’s sort of like YouTube, except they have actual full length movies like SpiderMan2 and Ghostbusters, TV shows like Rescue Me, and original content created by people who actually know what they’re doing, as opposed to the “I’ve got a video camera and a cat – it’s got to be good!” depravity that goes on at other sites.

There’s a fun little hidden camera show about race relations, a thing called The Hustler, which I haven’t seen, but which sounds funny (“His goal: To seek revenge against the family of the man who cheated him out of his school football record.”), comedy sketches from The Groundlings and much more.

And really, who cares what’s on there as long as you can spend 2 hours tooling around on it rather than filing TPS reports, am I right? I said, AM I RIGHT?!?!

Okay. I think we can all agree Megan Fox is smokin' hot. She's always half naked on the cover of some men's magazine and props to her for that. I've never had a problem with her...until now. Check out this quote from a recent interview in Esquire:

I don't want to have to be like a Scarlett Johansson – who I have nothing against, but I don't want to have to go on talk shows and pull out every single SAT word I've every learned to prove, like, 'Take me seriously, I am intelligent, I can speak.' I don't want to have to do that. I resent having to prove that I'm not a retard – but I do.

Oh no she di'int call out my girl Scarlett like that! I abhor when people, especially dizzy starlets famous solely for their looks, use the whole "You only use big words to seem smart" argument. Uh, no, dummy. People use big words because they are smart! And really, you just totally disproved the "I'm not a retard" thing. Congrats!

Milo Ventimiglia is a Total Nerd! - Jess is creating an web series to solve age old bar debates like "Who'd win in a fight? Superman or the Hulk" and other silly things men talk about when they are drunk and there are no cute ladies around to hit on. The show sounds Meh. I just like when hot guys are also super nerdy.

Friday, May 1, 2009

In case there was any doubt in your mind that I'm just a giganticnerd, try this on for size: I have a favorite Supreme Court Justice.

It's David Souter, and now he's retiring! After reading the fascinating book The Nine last year, I developed a non-sexual crush on Souter. My affections have nothing to do with his judicial opinions (I'm not THAT big of nerd.....yet) but because he's pretty much an eighteenth century dork living in now times. He doesn't like using email, doesn't own a cell phone or television, and once they had a really hard time calling him back to an emergency court session because they couldn't get a hold of him (because again, no cell, no TV, etc). Plus he's from New England, so obviously we're soul mates.

He's also a lifelong bachelor, and fellow Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sandra Day O'Connor used to try to set him up on dates. Which is just adorable.

But now he's retiring, which will lead to one of those insanely-over-the-top-partisan appointment hearings (whatever happened to Clarence Thomas anyway?). Should be fun. And by "fun," I mean annoying and awful.

So bybye David Souter! I'd promise to write but you don't have email, and these things you call "letters" are too nerdy even for me.